Need some help

[ojh]

How should i go about finishing this metal? This is a roof that i had to add a filler strip and the pic is where it wraps around and down to the door. If i stretch the filler will i need to shrink the the adjacent pieces? I think i need to shrink the closest piece to the camera, the curve looks a bit large anyway. Will i be able to work it all out or do i need to make another cut? If i need another cut should it be parallel to the filler or perpendicular? Thanks in advance for the help, oj

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[rlile]

Honestly... It looks like the filler was the wrong size....It looks like a bigger patch needs to be made. Something that blends the area together.
You choppin the top?
The curves on the top don't look like they ...ummm... lined up... Like if you tried to draw a smooth line (across a gap) between to to pieces...

More pics might help.

If the line of the roof is 'straight' , You seem to have too much metal. But at the same time the shape of the roof is really locked in by the filler....

Any other opinions?

[rlile]

Lookin' at again..
you might be able to stretch it into shape, starting just above the highlight line..

[ojh]

Yes, it is a chop. The roof is from an old truck and had a bowl shape, it kinda lost its' shape when i cut it. I matched the filler to the edges and had no gaps, i think problem arose is when the forward section 'gained' as it lowered. I rolled the outside past the door header and trimmed excess but whenthat happened the radius shifted down and i wound up with a 'pinch'. I have started stretching and it is doing better than i thought. It is 18ga so i have material to work with.

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[John Kelly]

I would stretch that with a ballpeen hammer from below and a shot dolly or something similar above. Stretch for a while, smooth with hammer and dolly, stretch some more, and do it all over and over again until you have the surface contours right in all directions. Tune up the surface with a shrinking disc whenever it gets a bit hard to work with. I show these simple techniques in my youtube videos below. You may end up doing minor stretching and smoothing on the roof to either side of the filler piece as well.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

[jhnarial]

How good did it line up before welding?

Also what was your method of welding?Did you weld it all at once?

[ojh]

It was a very tight fit, no gaps whatever. I did tacks about every 3/4 inch or so, had the seam backed with aluminum & brass to seal for air and heat sink. I welded sporatic from tack to tack skipping around and was conciencous of heat focus and stretched the welds after welding (they weren't very hot, don't know if that made a difference). I tig'd it.
The root of the problem is the top is wider at the rear than the front by a good bit. I cut it at a point where it was about 58" wide and shited it forward to where it should have been about 57". The roof was now wider than the frame, i rolled the excess over the door header and trimmed it off but it has moved the radius.
I knew i'd have a problem at this spot but it seemed to me as long as the edges mated with the filler i could move the metal around to where i wanted it.
Hows' the finger?

[Dyce]

Stretching will get you there. That's good advice John gave you with the ball-peen. Only think I would add is work each side of the roof even, and watch the center of the roof. Push down on the roof in the center and make sure you don't start oil canning. If you do you need to stop and rethink....
Jeff

[ojh]

Thanks guys, i am starting to get a little confidence and am seeing the results that i expect to see. I wish i knew how to annotate pics but i have a problem. If you look at the first pic i posted and see the area of metal around the 29" mark of the ruler. This area is formed when i rolled the excess below the door header and trimmed it, it is the radius that was higher up on the roof and i think there is too much metal there and that i need to shrink it. Can i shrink in a large area like that, remember i am a novice. Should i use a torch or shrinking disc? I have both but haven't used the disc as yet. Thanks again, oj

[tdoty]

If that is supposed to be a straight line, it looks like there was plenty of shrinkage from the welding. It's kinda hard to say without seeing it in person, but it doesn't look like there is too mich metal there - just a big low spot from 19"-29".

Just based on what little I can see.

I'm not a big fan of torch shrinking and I disagree with a lot of what is said about it. You don't need to get the metal red hot to shrink it. Shrinking discs ROCK! much easier to get a smooth, controlled shrink with the disc.

Tim D.